Above are several more shots of the view stolen by the owners of the Breakers, a development on Ford Street and Emmons Avenue. As most of you already know, the development has installed a gate, locking out the community members who've lived here for years and have longed for increased waterfront access. These shots were taken back in April, when I wandered into the construction site to get some pictures from the pier (with a rather cruddy camera).

The most amusing part of this architectural monstrosity wasn't just those ugly cresting waves on top of its otherwise blank walls, it's the shells that you see littered across the "boardwalk". The shells were everywhere in the development - on the pier, in the driveway, and on the roofs. They come from birds that pick up clams and drop them - normally on rocks - to break apart and eat. But the birds have taken a liking to using these buildings - apparently not thinking much of them other than another hard piece of crap jutting out of the water. For those of you Breaker-haters, what this means is people are paying out the nose to live in these "luxury" apartments, but will have to deal with early-morning ping-ping-pangs of birds who don't give much of a damn about their roofs, their sleep, or their cars. This is not to mention that they'll be tracking the chalky crap into their homes everyday. That oughta warm your hearts.

For those of you who are interested, I also wandered around the insides of the smaller building, which isn't as finished as the other ones. My impressions were... well, not very impressed. The rooms were small and cramped even without furniture, and there were some really odd architectural decisions made on where to put pretty basic things like, um, stairs. In some of the units it really ate up square-footage, leaving certain floorspace pretty much unusable.

I for one am not an anti-condo person, and think some of the buildings coming to the area are interesting. But the units I looked at, well, they sucked, and I sure wouldn't spend a dime on them.

The New York Times has picked up on the Breakers story, and the neighborhood's ire over the gated driveway which blocks public access to the waterfront. According to the story, and the Breakers' snide broker, the miniature boardwalk with a wide-open view of the bay's mouth, will definitely not be public.

Albert Wilk, the broker for the new development, confirmed that the Breakers would not provide public access to the water. “It’s private property, developed by a private developer,” Mr. Wilk said. “It’s going to be gated, and accessed only by members. If the neighbors wanted access, then why didn’t they participate in the costs of putting in the boardwalk and the dock?”

The Times noted that CB 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo and City Councilman Lew Fidler are fighting the arrangement, but add that there's little hope.

Of course, there is some hope that the Times' reporting is all wrong, and it'll be completely public. I mean, they did say the Bay News broke the story afterall... but we all know the truth.

Boats on the Water

A few weeks ago, before this blog existed even as a thought in my head, I had the opportunity to explore the new development in Sheepshead, The Breakers. The condos are causing a bit of ruckus with local groups including the Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association, as well as with CB 15 chairperson Theresa Scavo, who are angered with the buildings' gate, which stops pedestrian traffic. This is a photo off of the development's "pier", which is a very generous name. Still, the condos have a beautiful view of the mouth of the bay; hopefully it'll be one we can all enjoy.